


To Win The Heart of A Dragon

by thekishdiary



Category: Perthsaintsation - Fandom, perthsaint - Fandom, บังเอิญรัก | Love by Chance (TV), บังเอิญรัก | Love by Chance (TV) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Prince!Perth, dragon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-03-26 07:34:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19001257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekishdiary/pseuds/thekishdiary
Summary: Ever since Prince Perth was young, he had been fascinated with dragons and dreamed of going to different places with them - happy and free. However, the dragons’ dwindling numbers meant that it was rare for humans to see them. But then one night, just like a miracle, the Prince finally got to see a dragon in front of him.Looks like he’ll finally be able to to on that dream adventure.





	1. A Dream Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticisms are welcome but please don’t be rude. Unbetaed work so I apologize for any mistakes.
> 
> Comments feed my creative mind so I’d be really grateful if you could leave comments. Thanks!

If there was one thing Perth hates about being a Prince, it’s the constant boredom.

 

Being the third prince, he didn’t have much responsibility especially since his older brothers were both excellent in politics and social graces. Perth, on the other hand, would much rather spend his time training with the soldiers. However, the King finds it ‘unsightly’ for any of the princes to associate with the soldiers and frowns at his youngest roughhousing with them.

 

It would have been less lonely for Perth if he was close with his brothers. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works for royalty. From the moment each of them was born, they were considered rivals for the throne. Perth hated it.

 

His escape was the stories about the dragons that roamed other lands. He had never seen a dragon in real life because their numbers apparently dwindled due to knights hunting them for glory but he is fascinated by the stories about them. He collected every book about them that he could get his hands on and every night, he would sit at the ledge of his window and read. His room at the palace was at a tower and so, he was pretty high up. It was the perfect place to imagine what a dragon must feel soaring among the cloud, free and unbridled by mortal customs.

 

That night was no different from the nights before it. Prince Perth was absorbed in the new book he was reading when a sudden strong gust of wind knocked the book from his hand and nearly made him topple over. Surprised and confused, he looked up.

 

There, at a distance but getting awfully close was a dragon. Its scales were dark red - almost the color of blood. The red dragon was huge and as it went closer, Perth could see the fierceness that people so feared in these creatures. It should be terrifying to be this close to the dragon - and it was -but what he didn’t expect was to think that there was something inexplicably beautiful about the gracefulness of the creature in front of him.

 

At this point, Perth felt as if he was in a trance. He couldn’t hear the panicked yell of the people down below, nor the sound of the alarms raised. All he could think of was he would never have another chance to get this close to a dragon. So he stood at the edge of his window and reached out.

 

And slipped.

 

In shock, he couldn’t even shout as he plumetted down.

 

_So this is how I die._

 

His thoughts of death and afterlife were interrupted by a sharp tug on his body.

 

It took him a few seconds to realize that the dragon was gripping him with its claws and was flying with him in tow. Within those few seconds, the soldiers must have also realized what just happened because they were aiming for the dragon. However, because they were apprehensive about accidentally hitting Prince Perth, the attacks were not as effective and only served to annoy the great beast who had the prince in its grasp.

 

The dragon breathed fire at the continuing attack and with one powerful flap of its massive wings, it flew away from the palace, taking the prince with him.

 

Perth felt his stomach swoop and turn as the dragon kept flying. They were getting farther and farther away from the kingdom and the sharp turns of the dragon was making Perth nauseous. It was at this moment that the prince regretted his wish of flying with a dragon.

 

“Put me down!” He kept yelling but it was no use. It’s not like the dragon can understand human language.

 

Perth must have passed out because the next thing he knew, the dragon was descending towards a clearing on a mountain, in front of a cave that must be the dragon’s lair.

 

As soon as the dragon released Perth, he knelt on the crowd and emptied the contents of his stomach. Even after doing so, he still continued kneeling because his legs were shaking badly.

 

“Why did you take me here?!” He asked the dragon that was silently watching him as the prince composed himself. He stood up on unsteady legs and tried to appear brave despite that.

 

Perhaps he was imagining it but Perth could swear he saw amusement in the dragon’s eyes, like it was laughing at him.

 

“Take me back to my kingdom!”

 

The dragon gave no reaction to Perth’s demand and just kept looking at him. Annoyed, the prince kicked the stone near him. The rock flew from the impact and hit the dragon’s underhide. The dragon didn’t even flinch. Instead, it slowly crouched down and crawled towards the Prince.

 

Scared, the prince stepped back. “Hey I’m sorry!”

 

The dragon just kept advancing. The prince stepped back.

 

This continued until Perth was at the mouth of the cave. When the dragon still kept advancing, Perth realized the dragon was crowding him towards the inside of the cave.

 

“Okay, okay, I get it. I’m going inside.”

 

It was definitely scary to be trapped inside the cave with a huge dragon that could easily swallow him whole if it so desired. However, the dragon was blocking the entrance of the cave and Perth had no death wish. If the dragon was not about to make a meal out of him tonight, he will not question that luck.

 

As the night deepened, however, Perth couldn’t help but shiver. It was getting cold and he didn’t have the thick blankets he had at his own bed at the palace. Because he was just preparing to sleep when the dragon came to the tower, his clothes were also just sleepwear and didn’t help with staving off the cold.

 

He could take sleeping at the hard floor but what he couldn’t take was the cold.

 

The dragon huffed and Perth was terrified that the dragon was getting bothered by his constant tossing and turning. But he was also resentful because it was the dragon’s fault that he was here in the first place.

 

“What are you getting annoyed for?! Unlike you, I don’t have scales and internal fire to protect me from this cold!”

 

He felt a little silly talking to a creature who obviously didn’t understand him so he turned his back to the dragon and huddled in on himself, hoping to conserve some body heat.

 

He was surprised when he felt a huff of warm air at his back. Cautiously, he turned and discovered that the source of the warmth was the dragon puffing and huffing towards his direction.

 

“Are you...” Perth squinted his eyes at the dragon, suspicious. “Can you understand me?”

 

The dragon just huffed.

 

Perth shook his head. “I don’t know what to make of this. Maybe you do understand me or maybe you’re just messing with your food. You shouldn’t do that, you know. Oh well, whatever.” He turned his back on the dragon, too tired to worry about his fate. It’s either the dragon will eat him or he won’t.

 

Despite the circumstances, the prince surprisingly slept well that night.

 

When he woke up, the dragon was nowhere in site. Overjoyed at the chance to escape, he ran out of the cave. Once he saw the dragon wasn’t lurking nearby, he sprinted away from that place and just kept running into the forest.

 

He kept running and running until his legs grew tired and exhaustion made him hunch over, out of breath. It must have been hours since he escaped the dragon’s lair but all he could see in front of him were trees and plants. It all looked the same and even though he was running forward, it seemed like he was just going in circles.

 

“Where the heck am I?!” he yelled in frustration.

 

“What use is it to know where you are? You won’t find your way back even if your run for days.”

 

Suprised at the sudden voice, Perth turned and saw a tall, fair man leaning against a nearby tree. By his clothes and manner, Perth could sense that the man was not a simple commoner. Perhaps he was a royal too from a different kingdom.

 

_Maybe he got snatched by the dragon too!_

 

“Good Sir, where did you come from?” He asked tentatively.

 

The fair man shrugged and pointed towards the direction of the dragon’s lair.

 

_Aha! I was right! He was taken hostage too!_

 

“My name is Prince Perth of the Kingdom of Trigon. May I know your name?”

 

The man gave the prince a strange look, never breaking eye contact. There was something oddly familiar about the unblinking stare but before Perth could think more about it, the man looked away.

 

“Saint. My name is Saint,” the stranger said.

 

_No royal title? So he’s a commoner after all._

 

Perth wondered why the dragon abducted this man in front of him if he wasn’t a royal. The dragons from his books usually snatch princes or princesses. But then again, they were also said to favor beautiful things and well, the man in front of him was definitely beautiful.

 

“You were abducted by the dragon too, were you not? We should escape together, Saint.”

 

Saint shook his head. “I have no intention of going anywhere, young Prince.”

 

Perth frowned, confused. “What?”

 

Saint pushed away from the tree he was leaning against and walked towards Perth.

 

_Why do I feel a sense of deja vu?_

 

“You see, Prince Perth, you weren’t _abducted_.” Saint advanced closer and closer to Perth until the prince was backed up against a tree. “You were _saved_.”

 

Saint then stepped away from the prince and then in a blink of an eye, the most astonishing thing happened - where Saint was standing, the red dragon from last night now stood, towering over Perth.

 

Perth gasped in shock, and his knees would have failed him if the tree behind him wasn’t supporting his weight. “W-what are you?!”

 

_**I’m a dragon, you foolish human prince, the dragon that saved you from falling to your death.** _

 

“Did you just talk in my head?!” Perth exclaimed.

 

_**Stating the obvious, young prince. Now, you’re free to leave because like I said, I did not abduct you. To be completely honest, it was instinct to fly away when your soldiers aimed at me. I would have dropped you somewhere close but you fainted and it would be a pity to let you be a meal for the beasts if I left you unprotected. You seem quite fragile.** _

 

“Excuse me? I am not _fragile_ ,” Perth said indignantly. He glared at the red dragon, even though he was still fascinated by everything that happened. His pride won’t allow him to show how impressed he was by the dragon.

 

 _ **Run along then, little Prince.**_ The dragon pointed at a direction with one claw. _**I believe your kingdom is that way.**_

 

“Aren’t you taking me back?”

 

 _ **No**_.

 

“Why not?!” Perth demanded.

 

The dragon transformed back into human and glared at Perth. “Because, _prince_ , I’m not one of your servants. You can’t order me to do anything.”

 

“I have a name, you know,” Perth said.

 

“Huh?”

 

“You keep calling me with my royal title and yet you say you’re not my servant. If that’s so, shouldn’t you just call me by my name?”

 

Saint tilted his head in confusion and Perth couldn’t help but think he looked quite cute - like a soft baby animal - which was ridiculous considering he was a dragon that could easily kill him ifhe wanted to.

 

“What does it matter what I call you? You’re going to leave anyway.”

 

In that moment, Perth made a decision. The kingdom would not fall in shambles even without him there. In fact, he was guessing his Father, the King, would stop searching for him after a few days. They would be convinced that there’s a high chance that the prince was already dead and since he wasn’t the crown prince - or the spare prince for that matter - it would be easy for the King to decide to send the knights and soldiers to other endeavors instead of a pointless quest.

 

Besides, Perth was dreaming of adventure for practically all of his life. He was bored with royal life and here in front of him is a chance to go on that adventure. If he played his cards right.

 

“Aren’t you lonely here, all alone?” He asked Saint tentatively.

 

“Dragons are solitary creatures.”

 

_Damn it._

 

“But you’re different from other dragons, aren’t you?” Perth hedged.

 

“I guess you can say that. After all, not many dragons can do what I can do. But then, what business is that of yours?” Saint asked.

 

“Well, you see, I’m not very keen on going home. And I think you could use a companion, someone to talk to. If it’s okay, I would like to stay with you,” Perth said, carefully watching Saint’s reaction.

 

Saint was surprised to hear that the prince didn’t want to go home. After all, he seemed pretty eager to run away from him earlier. “Aren’t you scared of me?”

 

“Should I be?”

 

Saint transformed back into his dragon form. _**Still not scared?**_

 

“Still not scared. You had every opportunity to harm me but you were right, you did save me last night. You protected me and kept me warm when I was shivering from the cold. Why would I be scared of someone like that?” The prince reasoned.

 

_**Fine then. You can stay.** _

 

“Yes!”

 

_**But you have no servants here. You have to do everything by yourself.** _

 

“Agreed.”

 

_**So Perth, you ready to run?** _

 

“Huh? What do you-”

 

Before Perth could finish his sentence, the dragon flew up, knocking down Perth in the process.

 

“Hey!”

 

_**You should start running if you want to keep up, little prince.** _

 

“You bastard!” Perth yelled but began running in the direction the dragon was flying.

 

He could hear the dragon’s laugh in his mind. It was mocking but strangely, Perth wasn’t as annoyed as he should be.

 

After all, this was the start of his dream adventure.


	2. Time For A Lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So yes, I know it’s been a while. Sorry about that. Anyway, here’s the second chapter. Thank you so much for everyone who still remembers this fic. As always, comments feed my soul.

_Dream adventure?! What a load of crap!_

Perth frowned as he stood still at the middle of a stream, one hand holding a spear made out of sharpened wood pole. The water was shallow and clear so he could see the carp swimming past him. Now if only he can catch them...

He aimed the spear and then striked. The water splashed and the other carps scattered.

But none were caught on the spear.

“Too bad. You’re gonna have to wait for them to calm down again.”

Perth glared at Saint who was in his human form and was lounging at the side of the stream they were at. “It’s your fault I’m in this predicament in the first place. I don’t know anything about fishing!”

Saint shrugged. “Then you don’t get breakfast. Simple as that. Or actually judging by your progress, it’ll probably be dinner time before you’ll be able to eat.”

“Why can’t you just catch some for me? You obviously know how,” Perth stared resentfully at the pile of fish that was beside Saint. He had caught them earlier - with his bare hands.

Saint raised an eyebrow. “I told you, _prince_ , you don’t have servants here. If you don’t want to starve then you have to catch your own meal.” He calmly started a fire. “You should go home if you don’t like my rules.”

Perth turned away and concentrated on keeping still. No way is he giving up this soon.

Behind him, Saint smirked. The prince was entertaining him. He keeps grumbling about the work he’s putting him through but Saint noticed how he was listening attentively earlier when Saint taught him how to catch fish using the spear.

Saint expected Perth to run back to his kingdom the moment Saint asked him to do tasks like a commoner. But for all his grumbles, he was actually doing pretty well.

“Oh for heaven’s sake!”

_Except for fishing, apparently_. Saint shook his head and kept the fire going. It was about time the prince failed at something.

The past few weeks, Saint had taught him how to hunt using bow and arrows and Perth had excelled at that. He said the soldiers in the palace had shown him how to use some weapons before his father forbade him to do ‘soldier work’.

_“You humans and your need to assign roles. If you only know one thing and you get separated from the rest of your people, you will be weak, useless. It’s better to know a lot of things than be good at just one thing,”_ Saint had told him.

And that is also the reason why as soon as he had noticed that Perth had mastered the bow and arrow, he told him to switch to spear fishing. It’s time for him to learn something new. Even if it meant he had to suffer through Perth’s complaints and resentful look.

When the fire was big enough, Saint started to grill the fish he caught. The aroma drifted and reached the nose of the hungry man on the stream.

Perth’s stomach grumbled. He really is getting hungry. It’s been hours since he woke up and it’s past mid-day judging by the position of the sun. The delicious smell of grilled fish was not helping to abate his hunger. In fact, his appetite was only growing.

The more time passed, the more frustrated Perth was getting. And the more frustrated he was, the less precision he had in what he was doing. That cycle resulted to him not even catching a single fish.

He was about to give up but then he took a deep breath - _damn the grilled fish smells good_ \- straightened up, and then concentrated once more.

_Come on Perth, you can do this._

He focused on one carp, watched its movement like a hawk, and raised his spear.

Saint stopped in grilling the last uncooked fish and took interest in Perth’s stance. His aura was different. He smiled. _There you go._

When Perth’s spear smoothly slid in the water and pierced through a carp, Saint was already expecting it. He allowed himself one proud smile before shifting into a neutral expression just before Perth turned to him.

The prince proudly held up the spear, the squirming fish impaled at the sharp end. “I got one! I got it! Look Saint!”

Saint nodded, face still stoic. “Well done.”

Perth rolled his eyes. “Wow. Try to curb your excitement, why don’t you.” But he was still smiling.

Saint waved his hand. “Don’t get cocky. You caught one fish, Perth. _One_. That’s hardly enough for a _snack_ , much less for a decent meal.”

Perth frowned. “Fine. I’ll show you a decent meal.” He tossed the fish he caught to Saint who easily caught it in one hand. Then he turned his back to the dragon and once again concentrated.

_Okay, keep still, follow the movement of the fish with your eyes, slowly raise the spear...aaand strike!_

Once he got the hang of it, it was actually getting easier to fish using the spear. It was still difficult considering how fast the fish move but at least he caught a few of them. Progress.

 

Perth was so absorbed in what he was doing that he didn’t even notice that the sun was low in the horizon by the time he had caught a few fish. He decided that was enough and so he started to trek back to the riverbank where Saint was, one more fish caught in his spear to add to the ones he had tossed to Saint. To his surprise, the grilled fish were just piled up there - untouched, even the ones that Saint caught.

“You didn’t eat yet?” Perth asked, mouth agape. He glanced at the sky. It was almost sun down! He had spent the entire day fishing and he didn’t expect for Saint to wait for him before eating.

Saint shrugged instead of answering and then handed Perth the grilled fish. “Congratulations. As long as there is a stream or a river, you won’t get hungry.” He started to eat one of the fish as he pondered. “But then what if you don’t have tools? Hmm, maybe I should teach you how to fish with your hands.”

Perth laughed and sat next to Saint, eating his first meal of the day. “Please don’t. Or at least not yet.” He bit into the fish, the fleshy part instantly making him groan with how good it tasted. “I don’t know if it’s just because I’m starving but this tastes like the best fish I’d ever eaten in my life.”

Saint smirked and lightly flicked Perth’s forehead. “It’s because you caught it yourself. That’s the taste of hard-earned food.”

Perth ate with gusto, ignoring Saint’s words of wisdom for the time being. All he knew was be was hungry, there was food, and he was eating his share as fast as he can.

 

A few nights later, Perth thought about what Saint said. He’s right. Back at the palace, he had every meal he desired served to him. And he thought nothing of it, sometimes even complaining about it. He never even considered where the food on his plate came from or how it was obtained. He never thought about how there were people who toiled day and night in order to provide food for the royal family and the rest of the kingdom.

As he lay on the cold floor of the cave he had called his home for the last few weeks, Perth wondered if those people who worked so hard to provide for everyone else got their fair share of food. He wondered if his brothers cared about stuff like that. He wondered if his father cared. He wondered if his mother - God rest her beautiful soul - who was born and raised as a proper royal lady, even knew that the food came from outside the palace. She always did cringe at anything that seemed gross - including uncooked meat.

_**You’re thinking too loud.** _

“Heavens!” Perth sat up, startled by Saint’s voice in his head. He glared at him. “Please stop that. I can never get used to you speaking in my head.”

Saint - who was in dragon form - huffed. _**Yes, well I can’t talk like a human in this form so you would just have to deal.**_

“Fine. But what do you mean, I’m thinking too loud? I thought you can’t read minds?” Perth narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He’d be uncomfortable if Saint can read his mind.

_**I can’t read minds, just the thoughts one consciously project to me. The ability comes naturally to dragons. As for humans, well, I’ve heard of some who have trained and were eventually able to communicate with us mentally but I’ve never actually met one. Don’t worry Perth, your thoughts are safe in your head.** _

“If that is so, then why did you say I’m thinking too loud?” Perth asked again.

_**You have this face when you’re thinking.** _

Perth laughed. “I have a _face_? What kind of description is that?”

Saint huffed and turned his head away, annoyed now.

Perth stood up and sat down beside the dragon. He placed a palm on the dragon’s folded wings. “I was just teasing. Please don’t be mad.”

The dragon said nothing but he did raise his right wing slightly, an invitation for the human to take shelter underneath the great leathery appendage.

Perth smiled and ducked under the wing, leaning against Saint’s side. It’s comfortable there. It felt like a warm embrace.

They were quiet for a while. But then Perth broke the silence. “You know I was curious about this for a while now but can all dragons turn into human like you?”

_**No. Just a few of us do. My mother couldn’t transform into human. And neither could I until a few years later. She nearly ate me. Until I transformed back and fought with my claws.**_ Saint laughed in Perth’s mind.

“Oh. Where _is_ your mother?” Perth asked, remembering how he was thinking of his own mother just a while ago.

_**I’m not sure. I haven’t seen her since she pushed me off the cliff.** _

Saint said that so casually but Perth was shocked. “What do you mean, she pushed you offthe cliff?”

_**Dragons drop off their offsprings from the cliff that is their territory as soon as they’ve matured enough to fly. You either fly off or die from the fall.**_ There was confusion in Saint’s voice as he answered Perth mentally. He didn’t understand why the human sounded so shocked and upset.

“Your own mother dropped you off a cliff?!” Perth exclaimed. “That sounds so cruel!”

_**Perth, don’t enforce your human beliefs on me. To you, what dragons do might be bizarre and cruel but to us, it’s a mercy. Up to the point where we’ve matured, our mothers would have equipped us with the learning we need for the world. If can’t survive at that point then we won’t survive at all and it’s better for us to die a swift death than suffer later on.** _

Perth shifted closer to Saint, feeling like an admonished child. Saint was right. He had no right to judge when there’s so much he doesn’t know about dragons and about Saint in general. He’d like to know though. “I’m sorry.”

_**There’s nothing to be sorry for.** _

Saint wrapped his huge wing more securely around Perth, creating a warm wall against the cold wind of the night that he knew was bothering the prince.

Oh if his mother could see him now. The great female dragon would have thought him weak. But then she had her hoards, he had his. And he would protect what is his just as fiercely as she protected her golds and diamonds.

 

The warmth was lulling Perth to sleep. He felt safe. He closed his eyes, intenting to just rest them for a while. But when he opened them again, it was daytime.

Saint was standing at the entrance of the cave in his human form and the early morning light framed him just so. Not for the first time, Perth thought the dragon looked absolutely beautiful. He imagined that when the painters back in their kingdom envisioned angels, they would look like Saint.

“Oh good, you’re awake. Time for you to catch your breakfast. This time, you’re providing for me too.”

Perth groaned. Saint may _look_ like an angel but he certainly does not act like one. “What is it now? More fishing? Or back to bow and arrow? Wouldn’t mind that.”

“No. You’re learning something new today. I’ve thought about it and so far, I’ve only taught you how to hunt with tools. I want to see how you deal in emergency situations.” Saint walked backwards until there was enough space around him and then turned into his dragon form.

Perth watched Saint’s transformation. He had seen it several times but it never cease to amaze him. And if Saint was beautiful in his human form, he was just as ethereal in his dragon form - his dark red scales gleaming against the sun.

_**It’s time for a lesson, little prince.** _

Perth rolled his eyes. “It’s Perth.”

_**Sure, prince**. _The dragon plafully pushed his snout against Perth, knocking the human down.

Perth giggled and stroked the dragon’s snout fondly. “You’re like a giant puppy in this form, Saint. How did you ever survive years without a single companion when you’re this affectionate?”

_**Yeah well, better lonely than dead. You humans tend to have an ‘attack first, ask questions later’ philosophy.** _

“Is that where you got that?” Perth voice was soft and tentative as he motioned at the silvery scar low on the dragon’s chest. It looked to be too small to have come from a dragon’s claw and the angle seemed to be at the perfect height for a human to have slashed him with a sword if the dragon was on the ground.

Perth had never seen Saint without clothes in his human form (he flies off somewhere to take a bath) so the prince doesn’t know if the scar translates to his human body as well. But he had always wondered about the story behind the scar. He wondered why Saint had let a human close enough to hurt him.

_**That, my prince, is a story for another time. Food comes first. And right now I’m so hungry I might just eat you if you don’t catch food anytime soon.**_ The dragon crouched on the ground. _**Come along now, the day is passing.**_

Perth shook his head. Saint threatens to eat him at least once every day. He used to be so scared whenever Saint would say that but by now he just laughs it off.

The prince carefully climbed on to the back of the dragon, doubtful about the ride since there’s no saddle and harness to hold on to. “Are you sure about this?”

_**Don’t worry Perth. I won’t let you fall.** _

And so the dragon flew off, the terrified prince holding on for dear life.


End file.
